93 of 95 people found the following review helpful:
So Far Great!
This is my first Blue Ray player and I love it.
Took a chance on this Samsung and ordered it without a lot of information availabe because it is so new but glad I did.
Just got it out of the box today and everything works great. Easily set up the wireless to my home network (and it saved the IP address and encryption key info so I do not need to sign...
130 of 140 people found the following review helpful:
Mixed results with Internet features, keeping player for now
I plan on keeping this review up to date, so as things change I will keep adding to it. I will also try to answer any questions in comments.
April 2, 2010
I received this player from Amazon today. Within the first hour I had it hooked up to my home theater system, connected to my wi-fi network, updated the firmware over the web, connected to Netflix,...
This review is from: Samsung BD-C6500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player (Electronics)
This is my first Blue Ray player and I love it.
Took a chance on this Samsung and ordered it without a lot of information availabe because it is so new but glad I did.
Just got it out of the box today and everything works great. Easily set up the wireless to my home network (and it saved the IP address and encryption key info so I do not need to sign on each time).
There are few units (if any) with all the features this unit offers at this price.
This unit offers solid access to You Tube, various videos on demand services, Pandora (love Pandora!), and it sees all my videos and photos on my computer in multiple ways (with their Samsung PC Share Manager and direct acess) all through the network. The pics load a little slow, but the files are big. Pretty sure if I reduce them down access will speed up.
Decent You Tube search feature (for a TV remote as a typing device). Easily found my own You Tube videos.
In any case, all locked in solid with minimal hassle.
I would give it 5 stars except there is still a learning curve on managing my PC folders and I am still getting the hang of some Samsungs apps, but I am confident it will all work out. I initially entered the encyption key incorrectly and did not get a password error but instead it just said the IP address was wrong. A restart with the right key resolved all.
I already have a Samsung 40 inch LCD HD TV so I also figured they would compliment each other.
Oh, by the way, I had a customer service issue that was not the fault of Amazon and they resolved it in grand fashion. Absolutely superb customer serivce. Superb.
Yep, I am a happy camper with the whole deal
============================================================
March 17 - update
I continue to enjoy this player. I had one blue-ray disc that did not work right - a rental, subsequent discs worked fine. I also see services being added. A few free games (nothing great, but there), Blockbuster on Demand is now installed, weather, USA today, and more is coming. Still, my favorite feature by far is being able to view shared files on the TV from my laptop computer through a wireless connection via the home network.
Viewing seemed a bit slow at first, but once I began compressing the JPEG's to a more "uploadable" size, they snapped through slideshows with ease. Camcorder videos formatted to WMV are easily played from my laptop and watched on the TV - and they are smooth. It is just so cool to create it on my laptop and watch it on my TV. Just amazing stuff. Love it.
Had to re-enter my encyption key once right after a software update but other than that one time, have not had to enter a password again. One other software update had no effect.
I upped the rating to 5 star. It is excellent. I am already beginning to take it for granted like a good chair that always just works. Not sure what else I can possibly expect at this price.
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This review is from: Samsung BD-C6500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player (Electronics)
I plan on keeping this review up to date, so as things change I will keep adding to it. I will also try to answer any questions in comments.
April 2, 2010
I received this player from Amazon today. Within the first hour I had it hooked up to my home theater system, connected to my wi-fi network, updated the firmware over the web, connected to Netflix, and connected to Pandora. At that point I was ready to log in to Amazon and post a 5 star review. I am glad that I held off because there have been a few problems, but not enough to make me want to return the player.
Even though I have the latest firmware, 1009.1, Vudu does not work for me. I get an error message when I try to start it (I will post the error here tomorrow; right now I am watching a movie!). I was able to set my location in Accuweather and change it from Celsius to Fahrenheit. However, when I went back into Accuweather the location was correct but it reverted back to Celsius. I went in and out of it several times and set it back to Fahrenheit but each time it would go back to Celsius.
I went to the Vudu site and did some searches on Samsung, but could not find anything helpful. I also did some Google searches without much luck. The most useful information always pointed back to the Amazon reviews for this product.
I played a regular DVD and it did an OK job although it seemed a little over-exposed. I will update my comments as I play more DVDs. I haven't played a blu-ray DVD yet because I don't own one but will pick one up tomorrow.
Pandora radio sounds excellent! I have a Pioneer VSX-9040TXH receiver (which I love -- highly recommended) with some quality 5.1 speakers and the sound is amazing.
At this point I am irritated that Vudu shows up as an app on my player, but it doesn't work and I can't find any useful information about why. I am also irritated that Accuweather, in spite of reports from previous reviewers here, doesn't work. It seems like someone is dropping the ball. It would be nice if the blu-ray player would provide some kind of status about whether an app is functional or not so that I as a user do not have to waste my time trying to fix something if it's unfixable by me.
Right now I am keeping things in perspective. As a DVD player, blu-ray player, Netflix player, and Pandora player it is still worth the money. I am certainly glad that I didn't get just a standalone blu-ray player because Netflix and Pandora both add a lot of value.
April 3rd 2010
I was showing my friend the Internet features of this player today (Day 2) and was surprised that when I went into Vudu, the error message that I had been getting went away, and I was able to start my Vudu service! Setup was very easy. Accuweather, however, still would not keep the temperature in Fahrenheit. More later ...
April 4th 2010
I watched two Vudu movies yesterday. Things worked very well. The HDX quality is very good, as is the 5.1 audio. I don't like the Vudu interface as much as Apple TV's, but the quality is as good or better. There is also a very good selection of movies on Vudu. So, if you want HD-quality streaming videos with great audio, this blu-ray player can do that through the Vudu service. Very nice feature.
I tried a few more things:
Rovi TV listings. You set it up on the blu-ray player. It shows what is on TV over a 2 hour period. It doesn't appear to let someone browse through shows more than 2 hours out unless I haven't figured that out yet.
I added another location in Accuweather. I set both locations to Fahrenheit, exited, went back in and again it reverted to Celsius. Why do they even bother to put out software if they can't do it right? They have had time to fix it and haven't. It gives Accuweather a bad name.
The Blockbuster app appears to be working, but I didn't watch anything because I am a Netflix subsriber rather than Blockbuster.
USA Today news is something I may use. What I like is that I can get titles of news stories by category, and quickly bring up the article. It's a very fast way to get the news compared to a web browser for example.
YouTube appears to be working. There is a log in options so it should be able to access your account if you set one up. I don't have a YouTube account so didn't try that.
At this point I have tested all the apps and the only one not working correctly is Accuweather.
I will try some of the other features this week, including playing a blu-ray. Any suggestions for my first blu-ray movie?
April 13, 2010
I was able to set up Blockbuster on Demand. Even though my main computer is a Mac and Blockbuster on Demand doesn't run on a Mac, I was able to register a new Blockbuster on Demand account on my Mac and confirm it just by entering a 5 digit code on the Samsung player.
At this point I have rented movies using the Samsung's Netflix streaming, Blockbuster on Demand, and Vudu apps, and have been able to listen to music on Pandora. In addition, I have watched many blu-ray movies (about 20 to date) without any problems.
April 18, 2010
I have played more blu-ray and regular DVDs and have not had any problems. Everything played fine.
Tonight I checked for a software update and one was available. I like that I could check right from the player, and not have to download separately. There is an option to use a USB drive, but it's not necessary if the player is hooked up to the network.
A MAJOR ANNOYANCE: AccuWeather is STILL not working. When I go in and change it to Fahrenheit, go out, and come back in, the temperatures are all in Celsius. Who is dropping the ball -- Samsung, it's your player, and obviously you should know about this problem, so WHY aren't you fixing the problem or getting AccuWeather to fix it? Do you care about your product -- well if so, then FIX THE PROBLEM.
Fortunately, the major services work fine: Netflix insta-queue streaming, Vudu, Blockbuster on Demand, and Pandora.
June 4, 2010
AccuWeather now works. The Fahrenheit setting sticks.
This will be the last entry of this review.
I would buy this player again. The Internet features are very nice. Netflix streaming, Blockbuster on Demand, Pandora, and Vudu being the main ones.
I have not had any problems playing normal DVD's or blue-ray DVDs. They don't rewind or fast forward as smoothly as I would like, but it does what it needs to do.
It's not an expensive player, and it does a lot. So, I recommend this player.
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This review is from: Samsung BD-C6500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player (Electronics)
First, my rating is based on three parameters:
1. Is the picture of high quality?
2. Does the player load quickly? (This is the main reason I purchased the Samsung.)
3. Wireless internet
In regards to picture quality, I've tested a few DVDs and the picture quality seems first rate. Second, this player does live up to its marketing. From the time I close the player to the first menu is 25 seconds or less. That works for me!. And last, the wireless worked pretty much straight forwardly.
So for me, the player delivered on the parameters I care about and that's why I gave it 5 stars.
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This review is from: Samsung BD-C6500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player (Electronics)
I currently own the previous model Samsung Blu-ray player, the BD-P3600. I can say that the BD-C6500 is a huge improvement in all areas. The remote is leaps and bounds better. Faster load times. PC streaming works with far less hassle. Improved on-screen GUI. Physically smaller and MUCH more stylish appearance.
In my opinion, this is the most feature-packed Blu ray player on the market in this price range. Sony has no PC streaming until July. Panasonic has little on VCast until later in the year. LG has no 7.1 analog audio output. This Samsung unit is the one model that truly had everything that I was looking for - including 1GB onboard memory. All for under $250.00.
The only question is ... why do manufacturers insist on making the power cord as short as possible??
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This review is from: Samsung BD-C6500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player (Electronics)
**PLEASE NOTE: I do not work for Samsung, nor do I have any stake in the company in any way (outside of wanting their stuff to work properly because I own it)**
After looking at blu-ray players for a LONG time, I was finally glad to learn the new generation of Samsung players had been released. I purchased mine from a local big box retailer only because I couldn't be patient to wait for the delivery from Amazon. I'm sorry Amazon; please forgive me.
So far, I've really enjoyed the player. I own two Samsung flat screen HDTVs, and I trusted their ability to produce a player that generated a great image with great sound decoding. Therefore, I primarily purchased this model because of the built in wireless networking (to stream Netflix) and the ability to interface with my home PC. Networking setup was very easy. I had some problems in the beginning, but this was a router setting issue, not the player's fault.
I have yet to thoroughly test the "Samsung Apps," but I have been streaming "Lost" from Netflix. The image is great, albeit the connection and streaming queue time is slower than my ROKU player. Once it loads and buffers, it is fine.
Disc loading times are fine for both blu-ray and regular dvds. I don't understand why people have problems or complaints here because I've never owned a dvd player that loads discs "immediately."
Upconversion video is great--except on Warner Bros. dvds, but that's not the player's fault. I experienced the same problem with my old Sony player. It has been rumored that Warner purposefully has poorly encoded their recently released, regular dvds to push people toward their new blu-ray stock. I plan to purchase the Harry Potter series on blu-ray soon, so I'll report back on whether the image quality is better.
Finally, the sound is awesome. As an audiophile, this is most important to me, and finally I have a player that puts my amplifier to work. The 7.1 Dolby and DTS HD decoding is better than the theater, in my opinion. This is only true for blu-rays; with standard dvds, the sound is the same as my previous player--which is still good. It just doesn't use each speaker channel as much. Also, Netflix streaming does not seem to support Dobly Digital or DTS decoding at this time.
My only complaint is the remote control. Unfortunately, Samsung can design great electronics, but they must have the local elementary school design their remotes. Actually, I think an elementary student could do a better job. This complaint is across all Samsung products, though, not just this one. I was hoping after a number of consumer complaints that they would have changed their "motif" to a more intuitive design.
For my first blu-ray player, I highly recommend this one to others. I'll update this review if anything changes either way.
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This review is from: Samsung BD-C6500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player (Electronics)
I have this player for over 2 weeks now. I got it at hhgreg the first day they got it. So far: AWESOME.
Blu-Ray: Very fast loading time. Picture and sound are awesome.
DVD: I had very good upscale player before this one and this one is much better.
Wireless Network Connection: Literally it took 60 seconds to set everything up.
I just had to click "next" few times.
I have Motorola Wireles g modem (Comcast). Only asked me first time for WEP.
Never again.
Sharing files with your computer: I am a mac user and i got it to work with the Eyeconnect media server.
If you are PC user you can download Allshare from Samsung for free.
Netflix looks great. No hiccups and HD quality is AWESOME.
Pandora to.
Blockbuster is there but I haven;t tried it yet. To be honest i don't think i will ever try it.
They just updated the apps section with the VUDU app. When you open it there is a message that it will go live in March(what is pretty soon).
Youtube and Picasa are pretty cool to.
There are few games in the apps section that are pretty basic.
LOVE the player. I think it is a much more than just a blu-ray player.
I think most of the complains in the reviews are user or equipment(old router) errors to be honest.
There is only one thing that kind of annoys me. From the description of the player on the Samsung website, amazon etc,
i got the idea that there is a lot more apps in the Samsung Apps store/section(facebook, twitter, google maps etc).
None of them are there (yet). Even in the manual they used google maps as an example. Maybe they will add this stuff with the time.
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This review is from: Samsung BD-C6500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player (Electronics)
I received this item a few days ago and immediately began setup. I never even opened the manual, connected my HDMI and turned the power on. Wireless setup was easy, took about 4 minutes and I was connected to the internet. The player prompted me for an update which I did and that took another 5 minutes or so (I have no idea what the update did however). I first played with the apps like Netflix and Pandora, both worked flawlessly after activating them through my laptop. Netflix pulled up my instant queue (does not display anything other than your instant queue) and I selected The Stoning Soraya M. To my pleasant surprise within a few minutes I was streaming the movie in HD. Picture quality was beautiful and without any glitches. I did notice the movie did not stream HD audio but I assume that is Netflix and not some issue with the player. Pandora worked great, Youtube worked great, no complaints at all with those basic apps. Vudu (free HD streaming movie app) still is not working as others reported. I then moved to popping in a Blu-ray of Zombieland. Load times for me seemed a little slow, compared to my PS3 it definitely took its sweet time. I did not hear any loud noises during start up, of course I could hear it processing but nothing obnoxious as some have posted. Once it loaded the picture was amazing as one would expect. I have it paired with a 65" Panasonic plasma and it looked incredible. As for the audio portion, I had to open up the manual. You have to change a few of the preset settings in the audio section otherwise your a/v receiver won't get Dolby True HD or DTS Master Audio HD feeds. I realized this when my Denon receiver's "blue HD" light didn't light up. Once I made the changes the HD Audio light came on and the display on my receiver showed DTS Master HD. I used the fast forward function on the remote and that is when I heard the loud noises others heard as well. The machine hesitated to do anything but made a series of clunky noises then finally moved forward on the disk. It has only happened one time so I hope it was an isolated incident. Other than that one negative the player has been great. It's also super slim and has a sleek appearance.
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This review is from: Samsung BD-C6500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player (Electronics)
I have owned this player for the last 3 weeks, and i love this player. Network set up, Netflix, Pandora, Blockbuster set up was easy. The DVD's plays great in this player. Watched 2 Blu ray movies so far and the experience has been good so far. When i hit stop it does not resume again from the point where you stopped for Blu ray, i have read some forums online and i found that most of Blu ray discs do not support resume functionality. This resume functionality works on all DVD's.
I am using 7.1 analog out put to connect to my Old Non-HDMI receiver and the experience and set up was very easy.
What i dont like:
This player does not have speaker setup. The only thing you can specify is the speaker size and subwoofer. You cannot set the sound or distance of the speakers in this player.
Some samsung apps are horrible. There is an accu weather app for weather, and when i try to change the region to my area it just freezes and i have to shut down my whole system. I think samsung should test the apps before they allow it to be used.
Sometimes the player freezes when trying to access blockbuster, but works most of the times and requires restart if it freezes.
Over all i like this player and would recommend it.
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This review is from: Samsung BD-C6500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player (Electronics)
Player loads fast and has an excellent picture. The set-up was extremely easy and works very well with Samsung LED TV. Load time is very fast. I upgraded from a Samsung 2500 and every aspect of the product is improved.
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This review is from: Samsung BD-C6500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player (Electronics)
I suspect this is a fantastic, five star blu-ray player if you're a PC user but from my perspective as a Macintosh user I just wasted a couple hours of time that I'll never get back.
If I'd googled BD-C6500, Macintosh and Airport I could have saved my self a ton of frustration and time by ordering something else. Sure, you can spend some time figuring out a hack to make this thing work if you really have to, but I don't have to. There are other products out there that don't treat Mac users like red headed step-children.
Before I go any further let me say that as usual Amazon was fantastic when it came to the ordering process, the price, the packaging and delivery were just what you'd expect from Amazon, not to mention the ease of returns. That's why I buy from Amazon!
The initial set up went swimmingly until I came to the WiFi network hookup. Let me say first that I have a very strong WiFi network in my house using the ever reliable Apple Airport Extreme. In addition I have a wireless Cannon printer that set up on the first try so I'm no stranger to non-Apple wireless devices. When I got to the WiFi set up on the Samsung I hit a dead end. It was Friday night and Samsung customer support is a Monday through Friday business hour operation. That in it self is weak, they do have 24/7 online chat and I used that much to my frustration. The online chat is slow, I think the person on the other end must have had multiple chats going based on the response time to each of my entries.
The first Macintosh roadblock came when tech support wanted me to upgrade the firmware, since I could not connect to Samsung via the blu-ray player I needed to download a 67 MB file onto a USB flash drive, no problem I had the drive and I have a fast internet connection. Turns out I needed to format the USB device in Windows. O.K. so I've got an Intel Mac and a copy of Windows XP. I just fired up my trusty VMware fusion and took care of that little problem. At this point I was getting the idea that Samsung was not Mac friendly. Upgrading the firmware did not help and the support person on the chat could only tell me to phone back on Monday.
The Samsung has a feature called PC Share, allows you to stream from your computer to the blu-ray player. That was one of the reasons I choose this model - guess what? You've got to use Windows to utilize this feature. That sealed the deal for me, as soon as I finish this review I'm packing up the Samsung and shipping it back to Amazon. Combined with the lack of proper customer support, the anti-Macintosh attitude of Samsung and the warnings that I probably would not be able to play Avatar on this machine I've had enough.
***Here's an update a couple of hours later. I packed up the Samsung and sent ti back to Amazon, the did some more research and purchased an LG BD570. I will be out of town for a while so went to Best Buy and picked it up. Literally 15 minutes after walking in the front door the unit was linked to my WiFi network, five minutes later I was listening to Pandora Radio and a couple minutes later installed the latest firmware via the WiFi. Lesson learned, if you've got a Macintosh avoid Samsung.
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